The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted Kal Cables, a subsidiary of the Sun TV Network, an interim injunction against a Central government order that mandates that all multi-system operators (MSOs) to switch to digital mode.
Kal Cables was allowed to transmit signals using analogue mode by Justice M. Duraiswamy after its counsel and senior advocate A.R.L. Sundaresan submitted that State-run Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd had been granted an extension. All MSOs were supposed to switch to digital transmission by March 31. Kal Cables contended that on April 17, Arasu Cable was granted three months to switch over to the Digital Addressable System (DAS) and has since been granted an extension till August 17, 2017.
Kal Cables said that preferential treatment extended to Arasu Cable by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was arbitrary. The court has posted the matter for further hearing after a week as Additional Solicitor General G. Rajagopalan requested time.